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Speedometer top speed often exceeds reality

Speedometer top speed often exceeds reality Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 9:06 am, Thursday, February 28, 2013
The automakers' marketing departments are happy to give people the illusion that their family car can travel at speeds rivaling a NASCAR racer.
Last year, speedometer top speeds for new versions of the mainstream Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu were increased from 120 or 140 mph to 160, which approaches speeds on some NASCAR tracks.
All are midsize family haulers, the most popular segment of the U.S. auto market, and like most new cars, have top speeds that seldom exceed 120 mph.
The Yaris got its 140 mph speedometer in a redesign for the 2012 model year, giving it the same top reading as the original 1953 Chevrolet Corvette sports car.
When people are comparison shopping, cars with higher speedometer readings appear to be sportier, and buyers favor them even though they have no intention of driving over 100.
"People really want to see higher numbers, " said Fawaz Baltaji, a business development manager for Yazaki North America, a large supplier of speedometers for auto companies.
[...] research has found that most people like the needle to hit highway speeds at the top of the speedometer's circle, said Yazaki's Baltaji.
The limit was short-lived, overturned two years later by President Ronald Reagan, who campaigned on a pledge to end onerous government regulations.
At present, the government has no plans to reinstate speedometer limits or regulate top speeds, saying there's no evidence to show it would prevent crashes.
"Ultimately, drivers are subject to speed limits mandated by the states regardless of the top speed listed on a vehicle speedometer, " NHTSA spokeswoman Lynda Tran said.

George Carlin said there are idiots and manics

2007-12-07 06:06:20 by areukiddin

I gotta get this off my chest, just last night some f***ing a**hole decided to change lanes right in front of me right after everyone started pulling away from a green light. There were no cars ahead of him for 200 yards and his little yellow corvette just could not seem to pickup speed. As I got closer and closer to his F***ing rear bumper he started to jab the brakes. Well as I started to honk the horn and flash the highbeams he decided that stopping in the middle of the highway and getting out of the little f***ing covette was the smart thing to do. I was so close to deciding on a violent response to this idiot I can not figure out what kept from doing something bad. In any case My point would be If someone is behind you in a hurry get out of the F***ing way. If you have a death wish...

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